Fabrice Knecht Tango DJ
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These Tangos, Valses, and Milongas were recorded around the same time. Take a look to discover what else this orchestra—or others—may have recorded during the same week or even on the exact same day.
Canción para un niño negro is a Tango written by Carlos Zein and composed by Fulvio Salamanca.
The Tango “Canción para un niño negro” (Song for a Black Child) paints a vivid picture of a young black child’s plight within a city ‘so beautiful with houses touching the sky’. This city, while architecturally impressive, hosts a sadder story beneath its grandeur. The child, amidst the towering skyscrapers, feels profoundly isolated and despised because of his skin color. The repeated reference to the child’s desperate crying unveils a profound sense of abandonment and societal rejection.
The lyrics use buildings ‘touching the sky’ as a symbol contrasting with the child’s lowly and disregarded position. Such imagery conjures the idea of unreachable heights, paralleling the societal barriers imposed by racial discrimination. The phrase “Desprecia su piel morena” (Despises his dark skin) starkly highlights the racial tensions and inherent societal prejudices against darker skin tones. The words “¡Pobre negrito… adónde irás!” and “¡Calla negrito… no llores más…!” evoke a sense of doomed inevitibility and a desperate plea for the child’s sorrow to cease, underscoring the neglect and the societal urge to silence the discomforting truths of racism.
The year of 1969 in Argentina, marked by social and political unrest, provides a backdrop to “Canción para un niño negro,” reflecting the era’s broader racial and societal injustices. During this period, Argentina, much like other parts of the world, was grappling with issues of civil rights and recognition of its multicultural facets. In such a historical context, Zein’s poignant depiction of a black child’s struggle amidst the urban sprawl of modernity and industrial progress reflects wider themes of exclusion and the search for identity and acceptance within the oppressive constructs of race.
Carlos Zein was an influential figure in the world of Tango, known for his emotive lyrics and strong themes of social justice and human emotion.